GEORGE DE LA PEÑA - BIOGRAPHY

Multi-disciplinary artist/director/producer George de la Peña has collaborated with diverse artists such as Blake Edwards, Marsha Norman, Martha Clarke, Peter Sellars, Andrei Codrescu, Graciela Daniele, Robert Eisele, Eduardo Machado, and others. As a peformer, he has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in television and film, and many theatres throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada.

Cast in 1978 by Paramount Pictures to portray Vaslav Nijinsky in the Herbert Ross film Nijinsky, this led to work on the Broadway stage in the musicals Woman of the Year and On Your Toes. A brief migration to Hollywood led to acting in television, appearing in such shows as Murder She Wrote and L.A. Law, while continuing to direct and choreograph. His list of film credits include Red Hot, Kuffs, and Brain Donors The Comedy.

Recent Broadway stage credits include Lincoln Center Theater's Chronicle of a Death Foretold, for which he received a Drama League Award in 1996. That same year, he directed the world premiere of Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue for the Humana Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Current projects include Vers La Flamme with Martha Clarke, and Radio Messiah with writer/poet Andrei Codrescu.

Born in New York City, de la Peña has been performing since 1972. He has taught in several universities since 1983, and is a member of the faculty of Connecticut College, and member of Lincoln Center Theatre's Director's Laboratory. He is fluent in Russian and Spanish, and also plays piano to reduce stress.